胖子华勒

Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the stride style were widely influential among musicians. A popular performer in the Jazz Age and swing era, he toured internationally, achieving critical and commercial success in the United States and Europe. His best-known songs, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999 respectively.

Waller was based mainly in New York City, and grew up under the influence of the Harlem Renaissance. He composed hundreds of songs, many of them uncredited, as he would frequently sell the rights to a new composition to get an immediate cash sum. His recording career spanned two decades and produced hundreds of recordings, with his solo output of particular interest to critics. He developed a distinctive performance style, wherein he performed risqué patter, witty asides, and amusing facial expressions while playing a piece. This proved popular on radio, as well as in the nightclubs and theater venues he performed in throughout his career. He was involved in several successful musical theater ventures, and developed an interest in classical music toward the end of his life, hoping to encourage audiences to take jazz as seriously as they did classical performances.

Early life

Thomas Wright Waller was born in New York City on May 21, 1904, the seventh child of eleven (five of whom survived childhood). His parents were Adeline Waller (née Lockett), a musician, and Edward Martin Waller, a Baptist lay preacher and teamster;……

Career

Early career

In 1921 Waller was invited to accompany the vaudeville group Liza and Her Shufflin' Six on a tour of the northeast of the U.S., having impressed Liza with his organ playing at the Lincoln Theatre. While in Boston he met Count Basie, who asked for organ lessons – these took place back in New York, in the Lincoln.……

Recordings

Via his friend Clarence Williams, a Tin Pan Alley music publisher, Waller became involved with the new recording label Okeh Records in 1922.……

Personal life

In 1920, Waller married Edith Hatch, and the couple moved in with Edith's parents as they were unable to afford their own home. Edith's parents disapproved of Waller's career as a musician, considering it unfit for a newly married man. They found their own apartment, and Edith gave birth to a son, Thomas Waller Jr., in 1921.……

Death

Waller's health began to decline in 1939 or 1940, with heavy alcohol drinking, working late hours, and excessive food consumption being contributing factors (he reportedly weighed about 285 pounds (129 kg) at the time of his death).……

Legacy

The academic Paul Machlin notes that stories about Waller's colorful life and large personality have drawn attention away from his musical influence: "the persistent myths surrounding Waller's life – myths that magnify his affinity and capacity for high living, his conviviality, his ebullient personality, and his supposed disinclination to take his music seriously ...……

Recognition and awards

Waller's recordings were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy Award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

Selected works

Recordings

Waller features in hundreds of recordings, the majority of them for RCA Victor. JSP Records released a complete collection of the known extant recordings:

1922–29 – The Complete Recorded Works Vol. 1: Messin' Around With The Blues (4xCD) (JSP, 2007)

1930–34 – The Complete Recorded Works Vol. 2: A Handful Of Keys (4xCD) (JSP, 2006)

Instrumental

Piano solo

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Organ solo

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Songs

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Stage

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Film

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